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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — in a road
  4. pass — a permit
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bass — low music
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — rain
  17. bass — the fish
  18. hand — help
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. fork — a garden tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com